(wáng): to die, to lose, to be gone

(wáng) is a Chinese character meaning “to die.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural). It ranks #957 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, a man 人 in a coffin; see 亾. Its radical form (lid) appears in many related characters such as (jīng, capital city of a country), (jiāo, to hand over), (liàng, bright).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to die
  2. to lose
  3. to be gone

Etymology & Origin

ideographicA man 人 in a coffin; see 亾

Components:structural

Stroke Order

1
2
3

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
verbsǐ wángto die6
verb/nounshāng wángcasualties6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
táo wángto flee
shēn wángto die
miè wángto be destroyed
táo wáng zhěrunaway
wáng língdeparted spirit
zhèn wángto die in battle
liú wángto force into exile
xiāo wángto die out
sǐ wáng lǜmortality rate
wáng mìngto flee
wáng yáng bǔ láolit. to mend the pen after sheep are lost (idiom)
shēng sǐ cún wángmatter of life and death
wáng mìng zhī túrunaway (idiom)
cún wángto live or die
wáng húnsoul of the deceased
69
Total compounds
23
As first character
55
As last character
22
As middle character

appears in 69 compound words: 23 as the first character, 55 as the last, and 22 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

0.792648,650 co-occurrences
shāng
0.57453,976 co-occurrences
táo
0.57066,108 co-occurrences
miè
0.56433,204 co-occurrences
zhèn
0.56039,948 co-occurrences
diāo
0.5384,296 co-occurrences
shēn
0.502121,200 co-occurrences
0.48811 co-occurrences
0.4754,902 co-occurrences
liú
0.45169,150 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (18)

齿chúnwángchǐhánHSK 7+

to share a common lot; to share the same fate

phrase
fù mǔ shuāng wángHSK 6+

to have lost both one's parents

phrase
guópòjiāwángHSK 6+

the country perishes or is devastated and families are divided

phrase
jiāpòrénwángHSK 6+

family befallen by disaster

phrase
jīngjìnrénwángHSK 6+

When a male's semen is exhausted, he dies

phrase
liúwáng zhèngfǔHSK 6+

government in exile

noun
míngcúnshíwángHSK 6+

to remain existing in name but no longer in reality; now nominal

phrase
rén qín jù wángHSK 6+

person and lute have both vanished (idiom); death of a close friend

phrase
ruò yǒu suǒ wángHSK 7+

see 若有所失[ruo4 you3 suo3 shi1]

phrase
shēngsǐcúnwángHSK 6+

life or death; survival or extinction; matter of life and death; critical moment

phrase
sǐwáng rénshùHSK 6+

death toll

noun
wángguómièzhǒngHSK 6+

the country perishes and the ethnicity becomes extinct

phrase

Showing 12 of 18 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这场事故造成了三人死,令人十分悲痛。

Zhè chǎng shìgù zàochéng le sān rén sǐwáng, lìng rén shífēn bēitòng.

This accident caused three deaths, which is very tragic.

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Feb 2026

弗吉尼亚州里士满发生枪击事件 两人死

弗 jí ní yà zhōu lǐ shì mǎn fā shēng qiāng jī shì jiàn liǎng rén sǐ wáng

Two people were killed in a shooting in Richmond, Virginia

EttodayFeb 2026

國1五楊高架「男下車墜橋」!家屬悲赴殯儀館 相驗追死因

國 wǔ 楊 gāo jià nán xià 車 墜 橋 wáng ! jiā 屬 bēi fù 殯 儀 館 xiāng 驗 zhuī sǐ yīn

Man Falls to Death from Wuyang Overpass on National Highway 1! Family Rushes to Funeral Home as Autopsy Investigates Cause of Death

TvbsFeb 2026

...痛要注意!日本研究:長者「蛀牙不治療」死風險增1.7倍

. . . tòng yāo zhù yì ! rì běn yán jiū 長 zhě 蛀 yá bù zhì 療 sǐ wáng 風 險 zēng . bèi

...Pain is a warning! Japanese Study: Elderly with Untreated Cavities Face 1.7 Times Higher Risk of Death

LtnFeb 2026

國1五楊高架小黃乘客離奇墜橋 檢警相驗釐清原因

國 wǔ 楊 gāo jià xiǎo 黃 chéng kè 離 qí 墜 橋 wáng 檢 jǐng xiāng 驗 釐 qīng yuán yīn

Passenger Falls to Death from Wuyang Elevated Highway in National Highway 1 Prosecutors and Police Conduct Autopsy to Determine Cause

百度新闻Feb 2026

...部队向反政府示威者开火 造成至少12人伤

. . . bù duì xiàng fǎn zhèng fǔ shì wēi zhě kāi huǒ zào chéng zhì shǎo rén shāng wáng

Troops opened fire on anti-government protesters, resulting in at least 12 casualties.

Tatoeba

是唯一可能的解脱吗?

Sǐwáng shì wéiyī kěnéng de jiětuō ma?

Is death the only way to liberation?

Tatoeba

那件不幸的事故使他自杀身

Nà jiàn bù xìng de shìgù shǐ tā zìshā shēnwáng.

The unhappy event made him put an end to himself.

Tatoeba

爱情比死更强大。

àiqíng bǐ sǐwáng gèng qiángdà.

Love is more powerful than death.

Tatoeba

城市居民的死率高于农村里的人。

Chéngshì jūmín de sǐwánglǜ gāoyú nóngcūn lǐ de rén.

City dwellers have a higher death rate than country people do.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced wáng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 亡 (wáng) mean in Chinese?
亡 (wáng) primarily means "to die." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #957 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 亡 and 赢?
亡 (wáng) and 赢 (yíng) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 亡 (lose) vs 赢 (win).
How many strokes does 亡 have?
亡 is written with 3 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 亡?
The radical associated with 亡 is 亠 (lid). This radical appears in many characters related to lid.
What are the components of 亡?
亡 is composed of: 亠 (structural). Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 亡?
Common words with 亡 include: 死亡 (sǐ wáng, "to die"); 伤亡 (shāng wáng, "casualties"); 逃亡 (táo wáng, "to flee"); 身亡 (shēn wáng, "to die"); 灭亡 (miè wáng, "to be destroyed"). There are over 69 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 亡 (wáng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation wáng: 汪 (expanse of water), 王 (king or monarch), 网 (net), 往 (to go (in a direction)), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 亡 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 亡 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.